Providence Gazette

March 9

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Providence Gazette (March 9, 1776).

“Just PUBLISHED … An APPENDIX to Common Sense.”

Advertisements for Thomas Paine’s Common Sense continued to proliferate in the March 9, 1776, edition of the Providence Gazette.  Three weeks earlier, John Carter, the printer, announced that he had a local edition of the pamphlet “Now in the PRESS” and expected that copies would be ready for sale within a week.  To stoke anticipation, he trumpeted, “This Pamphlet is in such very great Demand, that in the Course of a few Weeks three Editions of it have been printed in Philadelphia, and to in New-York, besides a German Edition.”  The following week, he updated the advertisement to alert the public that he “JUST PUBLISHED” the pamphlet and sold it for “One Shilling single, or Eight Shillings per Dozen.”

Rather than continuing to run that advertisement, he once again revised it for the March 1 edition of the Providence Gazette.  This version eliminated the comment about the “very great Demand” for the pamphlet.  Carter also described his edition as “A NEW EDITION OF Common Sense,” replicating how William Bradford and Thomas Bradford described the edition they produced in collaboration with Thomas Paine after the author parted ways with Robert Bell, the publisher of the first edition of Common Sense.  Given that the Bradfords did not announce publication of that edition until February 14, the edition that Carter had “Now in the PRESS” on February 17 must have drawn from one of Bell’s editions or from John Anderson’s New York edition (drawn from one of Bell’s editions) published on February 8.  Why did Carter consider it necessary to revise his advertisement to describe his edition as “A NEW EDITION”?

He may have seen the dispute, first between Bell and Paine and later between Bell and the Bradfords, play out in advertisements in the Pennsylvania Evening Post and other newspapers published in Philadelphia.  After all, printers exchanged newspapers so they could reprint news, letters, editorials, and other content.  During that dispute, the Bradfords emphasized that their edition included new material written by Paine, “An APPENDIX, and an Address to the People called QUAKERS.”  It did not take long for Bell to pirate those items and add them to “Large ADDITIONS to COMMON SENSE,” a collection of essays from newspapers, none of the written by Paine.

Carter acquired one of those pamphlets.  On March 9, he once again ran his advertisement promoting the “NEW EDITION.”  In a second advertisement, he announced publication of “An APPENDIX to Common Sense,” a separate item that sold for “Ninepence single, or Six Shillings per Dozen.”  Richard Gimbel indicates that this pamphlet included the “Address to the People called Quakers.”[1]  Perhaps Carter updated his advertisement in solidarity with the Bradfords.  He did not, after all, publish a local edition of “Large Additions.”  Carter did not explicitly wade into that controversy that gained so much attention in Philadelphia.  Instead, he kept the focus on distributing Common Sense and Paine’s supplementary materials.

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[1] Richard Gimbel, Thomas Paine: A Bibliographical Check List of Common Sense with an Account of Its Publication (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1956), 90.

February 17

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , ,

What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Providence Gazette (February 17, 1776).

“This Pamphlet is in such very great Demand, that … three Editions of it have been printed in Philadelphia.”

On February 17, 1776, John Carter, the printer of the Providence Gazette, became the first printer in New England to announce plans to publish a local edition of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense.  “Now in the PRESS,” he proclaimed, “And on Thursday next will be Published … Common Sense: Addressed to the INHABITANTS of AMERICA, on the following interesting Subjects.”  Carter then listed the titles of the sections of the political pamphlet, replicating many of the advertisements that previously ran in newspapers published in Philadelphia and New York.  He even included the epigraph from “Liberty,” a poem by James Thomson, that appeared on the first page of the first edition published by Robert Bell and in many of Bell’s advertisements for the pamphlet.

Carter disseminated this advertisement on a Saturday, but readers had to wait until the following Thursday for the pamphlet to go on sale.  To stoke anticipation even more, he reported, “This Pamphlet is in such very great Demand, that in the Course of a few Weeks three Editions of it have been printed in Philadelphia, and two in New-York, besides a German Edition.”  Indeed, Bell first advertised Common Sense on January 9 and soon after advertised an unauthorized second edition.  Unhappy with Bell’s failure to earn a profit on the first edition, Paine turned to William Bradford and Thomas Bradford to publish a new edition with additional content.  Before its publication on February 14, Bell and Paine engaged in bitter exchanges in advertisements in the Pennsylvania Evening Post and other newspapers.  In their advertisement, the Bradfords also indicated that a “German edition is likewise in the press.”  Meanwhile, John Anderson advertised his local edition, the first printed in New York, on February 7.  Even if readers of the Providence Gazette had not previously heard much about Paine’s incendiary political pamphlet, Carter intended for its popularity in Philadelphia and New York to encourage sales of his local edition.  He clearly intended for retailers to purchase it to sell again, offering a discount of “One Shilling single, or Eight Shillings per Dozen.”  Perhaps he expected that supporters of the American cause would also purchase by the dozen and distribute them to friends and relations.  Allowing such a steep discount likely helped the pamphlet achieve even greater circulation.

February 11

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago this week?

Providence Gazette (February 10, 1776).

“A House of Entertainment in Providence.”

When John Fry relocated from Newport to Providence, he ran an advertisement in the Providence Gazette to “acquaint his Friends, and the Public in general, that he has opened a House of Entertainment … a little below the Great Bridge.”  To aid prospective patrons in finding the establishment where he “proposes to victual and lodge Gentlemen and Ladies,” he clarified that they should seek “the House owned by Mr. James Lovett.”  In addition to food and rooms available to residents of Providence and travelers to the town, Fry “has likewise good Accommodations for Horses, and will engage to keep them in the best Manner.”

While Fry certainly hoped to attract local patrons to spend some of their leisure time at his “House of Entertainment,” he also depended on the circulation of the Providence Gazette far beyond the town to generate business among travelers.  At the time, it was one of only two newspapers printed in Rhode Island … and the Newport Mercury, the other newspaper, experienced disruptions in publication in the early months of 1776.  Sometimes Solomon Southwick, the printer, only had enough paper for a half sheet edition of two pages rather than the usual four; other times he missed a week completely.  Such had been the case for several newspapers since the war began in April 1775.  The Providence Gazette previously had readers in Newport, but it became an even more important vehicle for disseminating news and advertisements when the Newport Mercury experienced disruptions.  Fry no doubt intended for “his Friends” in Newport who planned to visit Providence to see his advertisement in the Providence Gazette; he leveraged their familiarity with him when selecting where to eat and sleep when they came to his new town.  Yet he also addressed “the Public in general” throughout Rhode Island as well as eastern Connecticut and central and southeastern Massachusetts, knowing that the Providence Gazettecirculated in many towns in the region.

December 30

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , ,

What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Providence Gazette (December 30, 1775).

“Great Allowance made to those that take a Quantity.”

The collaboration between John Carter, the printer of the Providence Gazette, and Benjamin West, an astronomer and mathematician, continued for another year.  An advertisement in the final issue of the Providence Gazette for 1775 alerted readers that the “NEW-ENGLAND ALMANACK, Or, Lady’s and Gentleman’s DIARY, For the Year of our LORD 1776” by Benjamin West was “Just Published, and to be Sold by the Printer hereof.”  At the end of the advertisement, a manicule directed attention to a note that informed shopkeepers and others of a “Great Allowance made to those that take a Quantity.”  In other words, Carter offered steep discounts to retailers who purchased a significant number of copies to sell to their own customers.  That pricing scheme allowed them to turn a profit by setting prices that competed with customers acquiring the almanac at the printing office.

To entice customers of every sort, Carter provided an overview of the contents of the almanac.  In addition to the “usual astronomical Calculations,” it included “a particular Account of the Transit of Mercury, which will happen on the 2d Day of November, 1776.”  Carter stoked anticipation for that event, making it even more appealing by providing those who purchased the almanac detailed information to help them understand it.  The almanac also contained useful reference material, including “a Table of Coins, Time of holding Friends yearly Meetings; Courts in the New-England Government; List of public Officers; a compleat Table of Interest, at any Rate per Cent. Time of the Arrival and Departure of the Posts; [and] Description of the Roads.”  The almanac also served as a medical manual with several remedies, such as “a certain Cure for the Canker, a Cure for the Bite of a Rattle-Snake; [and] a Cure for the Dysentery, or Bloody-Flux.”  In addition to all that, the almanac had items selected to entertain or to educate readers, including a short essay “on Contentment,” “Humanity, a Poem,” and “a concise geographical Description of CANADA.”  That last item may have been of particular interest given the American invasion of Canada in hopes of winning support for the American cause.  Despite capturing Montreal in November, the attack on Quebec City failed in late December.  American forces withdrew.  The “concise geographical Description of CANADA” would not serve the intended purpose once word arrived in New England, though readers could consult it to supplement reports they read in the Providence Gazette and heard from others.  Overall, Carter aimed to convince prospective customers that this almanac has an array of features that merited selecting it for use throughout the new year.

December 17

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago this week?

Providence Gazette (December 16, 1775).

“THE Subscriber having entered into the American Army, desires all Persons indebted to him to make immediate Payment to his Wife.”

When William Barton, a hatter in Providence, “entered into the American Army” in 1775, he ran a newspaper advertisement that delegated responsibilities to his wife and a business associate.  He requested that “all Persons to indebted to him … make immediate Payment to his Wife, … who is legally impowered to give proper Acquittances, that he may be enabled to discharge his just Debts.”  It may not have been the first time that his unnamed wife oversaw accounts for the Barton household and her husband’s shop.  Like many other wives of shopkeepers and artisans, she could have had experience assisting her husband by tending to customers while he was busy or away from the shop.  She did not, however, assume responsibility for making sales during her husband’s extended absence while he served in the Continental Army, at least not initially.

Instead, Barton “inform[ed] his good Customers, and the Public in general, that he still continues to carry on the Hatter’s Business, at his Shop … where Mr. SETH LATHROP will supply all Person … with every Kind of Beaver, Felt and Castor Hats.”  Barton did not indicate whether Lathrop previously played a role in the business.  Had Lathrop been an employee or an apprentice who now ran the shop while Barton was away?  Did he take new orders and make new hats according to the tastes of Barton’s “good Customers” and new clients who responded to the advertisement?  Or did he merely sell hats already in stock when Barton enlisted in the army?  Barton’s notice did promise low prices, “the cheapest Rates,” and made assurances about the quality of the hats available at the shop, proclaiming that they were “warranted to be good.”

Barton also declared, “The Favours of the Public will be gratefully acknowledged, by their humble Servant.”  Although he deployed language that often appeared in newspaper advertisement to conclude his notice, he may have intended that his introduction would entice both his existing “good Customers” as well as new customers to support his business and, in doing so, his wife and their household.  Barton likely hoped to leverage his service in the “American Army” as a selling point for his hats.  After all, he chose to disclose that information first, making sure that it framed the overview of his shop that remained open during his absence.  Some advertisers espoused support for the American cause in their newspaper advertisements.  More significantly, Barton demonstrated his commitment to his political principles through his enlistment.  That merited special consideration for his “Hatter’s Business, at his Shop” that remained open in Providence.

November 12

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , ,

What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago this week?

Providence Gazette (November 11, 1775).

“WANTED to purchase, Five Thousand Weight of Hog’s Bristles, long and good.”

Cornelius Cooper, a “Brush Maker, from Philadelphia,” experimented with various marketing strategies when he relocated to Providence and placed advertisements in the Providence Gazette in the fall of 1775.  In an advertisement that ran for several weeks, he announced that the “makes and sells, Wholesale and Retail, Sweeping, Hearth, Cloaths, Shoe and Buckle-Brushes, and every other Article in the Brush Way.”  In other words, he produced every sort of brush for any sort of purpose that his customers needed.  He also made a pitch for local consumers to “Buy American,” asking that “every Friend to America, both in Town and Country, will encourage him occasionally” by making a purchase from his shop.  Only in the nota bene that concluded his advertisement did Cooper issue a call that “People will be careful to save their Hogs Bristles,” an essential material for making brushes, “for which he will give a good Price in Cash.”

In a subsequent advertisement, Cooper put his request for hog bristles front and center.  A headline in capital letters proclaimed, “READY CASH.”  The brushmaker explained that he sought to purchase “Five Thousand Weight of Hog’s Bristles, long and good,” and would pay six pence per pound.  Only after he caught readers’ attention with that offer did he list the inventory available at his shop in Providence.  Rather than name general categories of brushes, he made a display of the many kinds of brushes that he made and sold, including “Tanner’s and Currier’s Scouring and Blacking Brushes, Hatter’s Stopping and Planking Brushes, [and] best Weaver’s Sizing or Look Brushes.”  In addition to supplying consumers with brushes to use in their homes, Cooper aimed to supply artisans with brushes specific to their trades.  He also renewed his appeal for “a Lad about 14 Years of Age” to serve as an apprentice, but added that he “wanted, a smart active Negro Boy, about 14 Years of Age.”  Whether the enslaved youth would also learn how to make brushes or instead do other tasks in the workshop, Cooper did not specify.  He dropped the appeal to “every Friend in America,” though likely not because he noticed any discrepancy in advocating for the liberties of white colonizers and seeking to purchase an enslaved youth.  After all, acquiring bristles so he could stay in business seemed to be Cooper’s primary focus in his new advertisement.

October 22

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago this week?

Providence Gazette (October 21, 1775).

“THOSE Gentlemen … who have been entrusted with Subscription-Papers … are requested to return them.”

Among the various advertisements in the October 21, 1775, edition of the Providence Gazette, one requested that “THOSE Gentlemen, in this and the neighbouring Governments [or colonies], who have been entrusted with Subscription-Papers for printing A HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN NEW-ENGLAND … return them to the Author,” Isaac Backus, “by the 15th of January next.”  Backus, a Baptist minister, advocate for religious liberty, and one of the founders of Rhode Island College (now Brown University), previously announced this project in an advertisement in the Providence Gazette ten months earlier in December 1774.  At that time, he indicated that “Subscriptions are taken in by the Author, by Mr. Philip Freeman, in Union-street, Boston; by the Printer of this Paper, and by others who are furnished with Subscription Papers in Town and Country.”

Like many other authors and printers, neither Backus nor John Carter, the “Printer of this Paper” who apparently planned to publish the History, went to press without first having an idea how many copies to produce to make the venture viable.  They disseminated subscription proposals to garner interest, asking those who wished to reserve copies to sign the subscription papers entrusted to local agents in their towns.  The combination of subscription proposals and subscription papers served two important functions, inciting demand and gauging the market.  Despite that level of sophistication, Backus did not write directly to the local agents who oversaw the subscription papers “in Town and Country” but instead ran a newspaper advertisement and expected local agents to see it and respond according to the directions in the notice.

Backus originally instructed that prospective subscribers should “send in their Names” by February 1, 1775, “that it may be determined what Number to print,” but the project had stalled as the imperial crisis intensified.  His new advertisement extended the deadline by nearly a year, though this time he reported that the “Work is now in the Press at Providence, and will be ready to deliver to the Subscribers by that Time.”  That seems to have been another miscalculation since the first of three volumes did not appear until 1777, printed by Edward Draper in Boston rather than by Carter in Providence.  The book had a circuitous path to publication.  Backus attempted to use newspaper advertisements to keep subscribers informed, but factors beyond his control intervened.

October 8

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago this week?

Providence Gazette (October 7, 1775).

“He presumes every Friend to America, both in Town and Country, will encourage him occasionally.”

When Cornelius Cooper, a “BRUSH-MAKER, from Philadelphia,” relocated to Providence, he ran an advertisement in the October 7, 1775, edition of the Providence Gazette to introduce himself to his new neighbors and prospective customers.  The newcomer announced that he “makes and sells, Wholesale and Retail, Sweeping, Hearth, Cloaths, Shoe and Buckle Brushes, and every other Article in the Brush Way.”

Realizing that he was unknown to the residents of Providence, Cooper realized that he might increase sales by giving them sound reasons to purchase his brushes, either to use themselves or to stock in their shops to sell to others.  “As our own Fabrications, of every Kind, hold forth their Utility, in a most conspicuous Manner,” the brushmaker declared, “he presumes every Friend to America, both in Town and Country, will encourage him occasionally.”  Cooper did not need to rehearse current events for readers to understand his meaning.  They knew that the siege of Boston continued, following the battles at Lexington and Concord in April and the Battle of Bunker Hill in June.  They also knew that the Continental Association, a nonimportation agreement devised by the First Continental Congress, went into effect on December 1, 1774, in response to the Coercive Acts.  Colonizers sought to use commerce, especially their choices about consumption, as political leverage to convince Parliament to repeal the Boston Port Bill, the Massachusetts Government Act, and other legislation.  The Continental Association also called on colonizers to encourage domestic manufactures or the production of goods in the colonies as replacements or substitutes for imported ones.  Cooper did his part in making brushes.  Now “every Friend to America” needed to do their part by supporting his enterprise.

Making purchases was not the only way they could do so.  In a nota bene, Cooper requested “that People will be careful to save their Hogs Bristles, for which he will give a good Price in Cash.”  Consuming goods made in the colonies was important, but colonizers could also participate in the production of those goods by collecting materials, delivering them to Cooper, and earning some cash for their efforts.  The brushmaker also noted that he sought an apprentice, “a discreet, active Lad, about 14 Years of Age.”  He would pass along knowledge of his trade and make help the next generation contribute to the local economy.  Readers understood the inspiration and political ramifications without Cooper going into detail in his advertisement.  He presented them with a patriotic obligation and encouraged them to do their civic duty in the marketplace.

September 9

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Providence Gazette (September 9, 1775).

“SUBSCRIBERS for the ROYAL AMERICAN MAGAZINE … are desired by the EDITOR thereof to … settle the balance upon that account.”

Joseph Greenleaf acquired the Royal American Magazine in the summer of 1774 and less than a year later suspended publication following the battles at Lexington and Concord.  Some subscribers apparently had not paid for issues already delivered to them, prompting Greenleaf to insert a notice in the June 9, 1775, edition of the Essex Journal.  It called on “Subscribers for the American Magazine at Newbury, Newbury-Port, and the vicinity … to pay their respective ballances to the month of March.”  That corresponded with the final issue of the magazine.

Three months later, Greenleaf’s son, Thomas, ran a similar advertisement in the Providence Gazette.  “THE SUBSCRIBERS for the ROYAL AMERICAN MAGAZINE, in this and the neighbouring towns,” the notice stated, “are desired by the EDITOR thereof,” Joseph, “to call upon the subscriber,” Thomas, “at J. CARTER’S printing-office, and settle the balance upon that account.”  In turn, Thomas “will give a full discharge.”  The younger Greenleaf “learned printing” from Isaiah Thomas, the printer of the Massachusetts Spy and the founder of the Royal American Magazine, and “managed his father’s printing house” in Boston until it closed in 1775.[1]  He left the city and migrated to Rhode Island, where he worked as a journeyman printer for John Carter, the printer of the Providence Gazette, from September 6, 1775, to April 10, 1776.[2]  The advertisement calling on local subscribers to the Royal American Magazine to settle accounts appeared in the first issue of the Providence Gazette published after Greenleaf began working in that printing office.  Even as he set about his new responsibilities, the journeyman renewed the efforts to collect payment from delinquent subscribers who had not paid for the magazines they received.  His advertisement was not as lively as the one placed by his father.  He did not lament “being driven from his house and business by the perfidious [General Thomas] Gage,” the governor and king’s representative in Massachusetts.  Instead, he left it to subscribers to realize why he no longer resided in Boston.  Some may have hoped that they could avoid settling accounts with the Greenleafs while they remained in Massachusetts, but the advertisement in the Providence Gazette reminded them of their obligation.

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[1] Isaiah Thomas, The History of Printing in America: With a Biography of Printers and an Account of Newspapers (1810; New York: Weathervane Books, 1970), 175.

[2] Marcus A. McCorison, “The Wages of John Carter’s Journeyman Printers, 1771-1779,” Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, 2nd ser., 81 (1971): 273-303.

August 13

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago this week?

“EXTRACTS from the Proceedings of the AMERICAN CONTINENTAL Congress.”

Providence Gazette (August 12, 1775).

In the first advertisement that readers encountered in the August 12, 1775, edition of the Providence Gazette, John Carter announced “On Tuesday next will be Published, and Sold by the Printer hereof, EXTRACTS from the Proceedings of the AMERICAN CONTINENTAL Congress, held at Philadelphia on the Tenth Day of May, 1775.”  In the next issue, he inserted an updated advertisement confirming that he had indeed published the work and had copies available for sale.  Carter also listed some of the contents to entice prospective customers: “An Address to the People of Ireland, an Address to the Assembly of Jamaica, a Letter to the Lord Mayor of London, and the Opinion of Congress on the boasted conciliatory Plan offered by Administration in Parliament, February 20, 1775.”  Once again, the printer placed his notice first among the advertisements.  That was not merely an attempt to increase sales by drawing more attention to it.  In both instances, Carter treated his advertisement for Extracts from the Proceedings of the American Continental Congress as a bridge between news and advertising.  The book he hawked provided more extensive coverage of the news that he published in his weekly newspaper.

Providence Gazette (August 19, 1775).

Carter was the first printer to advertise extracts from the meeting of the Second Continental Congress.  In the fall of 1774, printers throughout the colonies advertised local editions of a similar volume that documented the First Continental Congress’s meetings in September and October.  William Bradford and Thomas Bradford, the printers of the Pennsylvania Journal, ran an advertisement almost as soon as the meetings adjourned.  Newspaper notices radiated out from Philadelphia as printers in other towns acquired copies and produced local editions for their own customers.  The Bradfords eventually published a Journal of the Proceedings of the Congress.  Only one other printer, Hugh Gaine in New York, produced and advertised a local edition.

In this case, Carter was the first printer to publish and advertise extracts from the Second Continental Congress, doing so in faraway Providence rather than in Philadelphia where the delegates met.  He did so during the brief adjournment that lasted from August 2 through September 13, 1775.  His Extracts, a pamphlet of twenty-two pages, included only the items listed in his second advertisement.  The Bradfords did publish a complete Journal of the Proceedings of the Congress that covered May 10 through August 1, but advertisements for that 239-page volume began appearing in December.  The scope of the project meant that it took the Bradfords some time to accomplish it.  The timing of the advertisements demonstrates that Carter did not merely reprint a set of extracts selected by printers in Philadelphia and then reproduced from town to town as local printing offices received copies.  Instead, he acquired the contents of his Extracts through other means, chose which items to include, and marketed the pamphlet to readers in Rhode Island.